Baton Rouge news

• Kentucky city begins moving 2 Confederate statues

  17-10-2017 21:21
  LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky's second largest city has begun moving statutes of two Confederate statues.  The Lexington Herald Leader reports that the surprise move Tuesday evening came after the state attorney general issued a legal opinion that the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission does not have the jurisdiction to block the statues' removal.  The Lexington Fayette-Urban County Council voted in August to move the statues honoring Confederate Gen. John Hunt
  
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• Two vehicle crash blocks portion of Highland Road

  17-10-2017 20:55
  BATON ROUGE - A two-vehicle crash has closed a section of Highland Road near W. Polk Street.According to a News 2 crew at the scene, two vehicles appear to have collided and crashed into the front of the Metro PCS store on Highland Road.A utility pole was also struck during the crash. Entergy power was temporarily affected by the crash, but all power has since been restored, according to Entergy's website.One person was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to a local hospital, but injuries appear
  
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• Anti-abuse organizations speak out after recent child murders

  17-10-2017 18:34
  BATON ROUGE- The violence began with 11-month-old, Jericho Smith. The infant died Saturday after being shot, stabbed and beaten by his father, Fabien Smith. The baby's father is still in jail Tuesday, facing first-degree murder charges, with no bond set.Tuesday morning, authorities in New Orleans say the 18-month-old child of a Baton Rouge City Government employee, was killed by the father.Police say Mark Hambrick confessed to stabbing and suffocating his child overnight after ‘receiv
  
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• Paramedic recounts saving newborn left on doorstep

  17-10-2017 18:04
  BAKER - The paramedic who responded to the initial call of a newborn baby left on a doorstep says he's never encountered anything like this in his 25 years of service."It was alarming," said Kendall Washington, a paramedic for Baton Rouge EMS.The call came in Sunday morning. According to the Baker Police Department, a 13-year-old gave birth and dropped the baby off on her neighbor's doorstep.Washington and his partner were among the first to arrive. He says the baby's core was warm but his extr
  
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• Woman fears rental scam cost her hundreds

  17-10-2017 17:44
  BATON ROUGE - Ads for a new home aren't what they appear. A rental-type scam may have reappeared in Baton Rouge and it's already cost one person $1,500.Jenny Wilson says she's been wrapped up in this scam since May."He didn't seem like the type of man that would actually be scamming vulnerable people out of their money," she said.Wilson responded to an ad in the classifieds on May 28, 2017. She intended to rent the Baker house described and called the number associated with the ad. Wilson says
  
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• WANTED: Man pulling on door handles in Ascension Parish subdivision

  17-10-2017 16:52
  PRAIRIEVILLE - Deputies are seeking a man who was spotted pulling door handles in a subdivision, apparently looking for unlocked doors.According to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, the man was spotted in surveillance video around the area of South Park Avenue and Southwood Village on Sept. 29. In the video, the man can be seen pulling on a car door alongside one of the homes.Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office at
  
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• Funeral set for slain New Orleans police officer

  17-10-2017 15:55
  NEW ORLEANS- A Saturday funeral has been scheduled for a New Orleans police officer who was shot to death last week.  The police department says services for 29-year-old Marcus NcNeil are set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Household of Faith Church in New Orleans, with interment following at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.  The department says the Marcus McNeil Benefit Fund has been established at Whitney Bank to accept donations for McNeil's family.  McNeil
  
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• Three women wanted for theft at Ascension Parish Family Dollar

  17-10-2017 15:12
  GEISMAR - Authorities are searching for three women who stole over $100 in merchandise at an area Family Dollar.According to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, the three stole from the Family Dollar on Highway 74 on September 25. The three unknown females then left the scene in a black Nissan Altima with a partial license plate reading 'CAB' The sheriff's office says the thieves made off with $150 worth of merchandise.Anyone with information on this case is urged to contac
  
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• Stabbing, dismemberment conviction stands in Louisiana

  17-10-2017 15:08
    NEW ORLEANS- The Louisiana Supreme Court says it won't hear an appeal from a man convicted of killing a French Quarter dancer and dismembering her body.  All seven justices initialed the "action sheet" denying the request from Terry Speaks, who is serving life in prison for the 2012 murder of 22-year-old Jaren Lockhart.  He acted as his own attorney, with another inmate preparing the document.  Speaks was convicted in 201
  
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• Raising Cane's announces partnership with Southern University

  17-10-2017 14:57
  BATON ROUGE - Locally-based restaurant Raising Cane's has announced a $1 million partnership with Southern University.The partnership was revealed in a news conference Tuesday, with Cane's CEO Todd Graves joined by Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, Councilmember Tara Wicker, Dr. Ray Belton, Southern University President-Chancellor, Alfred Harrell, CEO of Southern University System Foundation, Roman Banks, SU Athletics Director and Nathan B. Haymer, SU Band Director.The agre
  
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• Two teens arrested after carrying weapons at Assumption High School

  17-10-2017 14:24
  ASSUMPTION - Authorities say two 15-year-olds were arrested in Assumption Parish after they admitted to carrying weapons at school.A faculty member at Assumption High School found a .22 caliber handgun in a bathroom Monday morning. A school resource officer recovered the handgun and began interviewing staff and reviewing surveillance.The deputy was soon able to identify the suspect and brought him in for questioning. It was then that the student admitted to bringing the weapon to school. Invest
  
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• Teen arrested for bringing weapons, masks to Assumption High School

  17-10-2017 14:24
  ASSUMPTION - Authorities say a 15-year-old was arrested in Assumption Parish after he admitted to bringing a handgun to school.A faculty member at Assumption High School found the .22 caliber handgun in a bathroom Monday morning. A school resource officer recovered the handgun and began interviewing staff and reviewing surveillance.The deputy was soon able to identify the suspect and brought him in for questioning. It was then that the student admitted to bringing the weapon to school. Investig
  
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• Livingston Parish deputies complete training academy

  17-10-2017 14:24
  LIVINGSTON PARISH- Three deputies from the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office recently completed the Capital Area Regional Training Academy. The deputies will be assigned to the Livingston Parish Detention Center. Along with completing their training, the deputies also won some awards. Deputy Dyllan Hodges won a fitness award, while Clyde Lawrence and Kayla Landry won the Staff's Choice award. Permalink| Comments
  
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• Hillary Clinton says she won't run again despite Donald Trump's urging

  17-10-2017 14:10
  Hillary Clinton said she will not run for president a third time, despite President Donald Trump urging her to do so.ABC News reports that during a recent interview with a radio station in the U.K., when asked if she will run again Clinton said, "No, I'm not going to run again."Clinton said her voice will "be magnified because I am not running."The former United States Secretary of State and presidential candidate has said before she would not make a third presidentia
  
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• Two charged with attempting bank heist while dressed as nuns

  17-10-2017 13:56
  TANNERSVILLE, Pa. - Two women have been charged with trying to rob a bank in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains while dressed as nuns.  Nineteen-year-old Swahilys Pedraza-Rodriguez, of New Haven, Connecticut, and 23-year-old Melisa Aquino Arias, of the Dominican Republic, appeared before a judge in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday. They're also charged with robbing banks in Garfield and Teaneck, New Jersey, while wearing head scarves.  The Garfield heist was Sept.
  
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• California becomes 1st state to ban sales from puppy mills

  17-10-2017 13:42
  SACRAMENTO, CA -California will soon implement a new statewide ban on sales of animals commercially raised in puppy mills.Gov. Jerry Brown last Friday signed into law bill A.B. 485, making it illegal for pet stores to sell dogs, cats and rabbits from any source other than a shelter or rescue group.The law will go into effect in 2019 and supporters have praised the move."The problem is puppy mills, and this law is specifically targeting shutting down and not supporting puppies
  
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• Univision goes dark for Verizon's cable customers

  17-10-2017 13:36
  NEW YORK- Univision's channels have gone dark for Verizon's 4.7 million Fios cable customers because of a contract dispute.Verizon says Univision wants payments for its networks to more than double. Verizon says this is an "excessive price increase" given "reported declining viewership." Univision says it's still attracting viewers despite industry ratings declines.Fights over channels' cost between cable companies and owners of TV networks have become more common in recent years. Channel black
  
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• Florida candidate: Aliens took me aboard their ship at age 7

  17-10-2017 13:29
  MIAMI- A Florida congressional candidate is standing by her claims she was abducted to an alien spaceship at age 7 but that the incident shouldn't detract from what she's done on Earth since then.  Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera spoke to The Associated Press on Monday. She has claimed in past Spanish TV network appearances as recently as 2011 that she was taken aboard a ship with three blonde creatures that resembled Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue.  
  
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• FEMA grants additional $10. 4 million to area schools for flood recovery

  17-10-2017 13:21
  BATON ROUGE - Sen. John Kennedy announced Tuesday that FEMA is granting $10.4 million in Public Assistance Funds to school districts in Livingston Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish and the city of Baker.The East Baton Rouge School Board will receive $8.3 million. The Livingston Parish School Board will receive $1.1 million. Baker Schools System will receive $1 million.“The 2016 flooding didn’t just impact homes and businesses. It also devastated many schools,” Sen. K
  
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• Official: Call led to arrest of serial killer

  17-10-2017 12:45
  BATON ROUGE- A law enforcement official says a serial killer was arrested in Louisiana last week after he called a sheriff's office and claimed responsibility for a string of shootings that killed three men and wounded a fourth.The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, told The Associated Press that 36-year-old Ryan Sharpe wasn't a suspect in the four shootings until he called the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office last Wednesday and identi
  
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• Pedestrian killed on US 90 in Iberia Parish

  17-10-2017 12:30
  IBERIA PARISH- Troopers from the Louisiana State Police Department were on the scene of a fatal crash involving a pedestrian early Tuesday morning. The accident took place on US 90 eastbound near Estis Road in Iberia Parish at 1 a.m. The crash took the life of 27-year-old Gerard Robert.Authorities say, that Robert was walking in the eastbound left lane on US 90 at the same time a 2009 Ford Expedition driven by 38-year-old Joseph Silas was going in the same direction.The front of Silas'
  
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• White House slams decision to block travel ban

  17-10-2017 12:28
  HONOLULU - The White House is blasting a federal judge's decision to block the Trump administration from enforcing the latest version its travel ban, calling the order "dangerously flawed."  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the Hawaii decision "undercuts the president's efforts to keep the American people safe and enforce minimum security standards for entry into the United States."  In a separate statement, Justice Department spokesman
  
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• Southern California fire partially contained

  17-10-2017 12:09
  ARCADIA, Calif. - Firefighters have managed to partially corral a wildfire near Los Angeles that forced the evacuation of an historic observatory.  The blaze on Mount Wilson was 25 percent contained as of Tuesday night. Several hundred firefighters planned to work through the night battling the fire, which broke out before dawn.  Mount Wilson Observatory near the mountain peak was evacuated earlier in the day. The 30-acre blaze also threatened TV broadcast an
  
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• Cochran's illness shows risks to GOP leaders of aging Senate

  17-10-2017 08:55
  WASHINGTON- Top Republicans coping with a razor-thin majority as they try pushing a partisan agenda through the Senate are running smack into another complication - the sheer age and health issues of some senators.On Monday, the office of the ailing Sen. Thad Cochran announced it was the Mississippi Republican's "intention to return to the Senate when his health permits."That underscored the challenges of navigating a chamber that's the second oldest ever.Cochran's absence narrows the GOP's mar
  
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• Fire engulfs Ruston headstart school

  17-10-2017 08:33
  RUSTON- First responders were on the scene of a fire early this morning at a school in Ruston.The fire occurred at the Paul E. Slaton headstart school. WBRZ's partner station KNOE has more details on the fire.Permalink| Comments
  
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• Eight car pile-up jams I-110

  17-10-2017 08:05
  BATON ROUGE- A crash on I-110 southbound involving eight cars jams traffic Tuesday morning.The crash occurred near Capitol Access around 8:15 am and EMS was called to the scene.The cars involved blocked the left and right lanes, leaving only the center lane open. Delays are currently to Wyandotte.This is a developing story check back for updates'Tweets by WBRZtrafficPermalink| Comments
  
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• Tony the tiger, the truck-stop attraction at center of legal battle, dies

  17-10-2017 06:42
  
  The Bengal-Siberian tiger mix lived in a cage in the parking lot of the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete.
  
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• FEMA aid approved for Louisiana parishes impacted by Harvey

  17-10-2017 06:32
  BATON ROUGE- Louisiana has been approved to receive federal assistance to help with recovery from Hurricane Harvey.Gov. John Bel Edwards and members of the state's congressional delegation announced Monday that President Donald Trump signed off on the FEMA aid request.Five days after striking Texas as a Category 4 hurricane in August, Harvey hit southwest Louisiana as a tropical storm.The Edwards administration says FEMA assistance for government agencies and certain nonprofits will be availabl
  
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• LSU starts fundraising campaign for wild tiger conservation

  17-10-2017 06:20
  BATON ROUGE- Louisiana State University has launched a new fundraising campaign aimed at helping students' efforts to save the school's mascot - the tiger - in the wild.The campaign is tied to university participation in the U.S. Tiger University Consortium.The consortium includes LSU, Auburn University, Clemson University and the University of Missouri, all of which have tiger mascots and are working to help save wild tigers from extinction.LSU's fundraising dollars will be used to start a fel
  
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• Iberville Parish Council to discuss flag protection ordinance

  17-10-2017 06:09
  IBERVILLE PARISH - An important item on the agenda for tonight's Iberville Parish Council meeting — an ordinance to prohibit national and local flag defacing. The ordinance will protect the American flag, the Louisiana state flag and the Iberville Parish flag.It was reported in a previous WBRZ story that, any "word, mark, design or advertisement of any nature" on the flags would be outlawed. The penalties for flag desecration would be eithe
  
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• Iberville Parish Council passes ordinance to protect American flag

  17-10-2017 06:09
  UPDATE: The Iberville Parish Council has passed the ordinance protecting the American flag.*****IBERVILLE PARISH - An important item on the agenda for tonight's Iberville Parish Council meeting — an ordinance to prohibit national and local flag defacing. The ordinance will protect the American flag, the Louisiana state flag and the Iberville Parish flag.It was reported in a previous WBRZ story that, any "word, mark, design
  
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